I have been in the HR game for a while now, and I am seeing
big changes in what it takes to recruit and keep employees that are the type
you want to hang around. Study
upon study have shown that one thing employees now desire from their
employers is a fair amount of time off,
without having their attendance being questioned. However, what is a fair amount?
Many governmental agencies have tried to address this. This has led to is a patchwork of legislation
and laws governing the workplace. There
are state laws in some states, county laws and city laws defining what it is
that employers MUST provide. Now, it can be quite a challenge for
multi-state employers to navigate the patchwork of laws in different cities,
counties and states. It also leaves
other employer wondering when the “hammer” is going to fall on them and they
will be required to provide a certain level of time-off, regardless of what
they are currently offering.
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| All of SHRM's State Director's supporting #Workflex. |
So where is this going? The Society of Human Resources
Management has been working on a solution for several years now, and it is now
bill in the House of Representatives – House Resolution 4219 aka HR 4219
(isn’t it ironic “HR” is in the name of the bill).
I have skin in the game on this bill. At some point in the
process I attended a listening session on this matter. In the discussion, I was
heartened to understand that my employer offers what is deemed to be a “fair”
amount of time off as defined by the bill. This is no longer my opinion only, it
is from an objective measure, that says we are a good place to work and provide
a reasonable amount of time off for our staff.
Now what does the bill do?
It allows employers to opt-in to a program, that says if you offer an
amount of time off that is equal to of greater than defined in the legislation,
that employer will then be exempted from all the other laws governing time off
for employers. Your company or
organization DOES NOT HAVE TO PARTICIPATE.
Employers, who choose to do so, would opt in to exempt their
organization from other laws.
I suspect moving forward it would also be a way to
communicate to prospective employees that they can have an expectation of a
“reasonable amount” of time off is they chose to work for your
organization. I am sure some marketing
genius with come up with a catchy tag line like… Don’t be vexed with your employer join us for Workflex.
At this point there has been a phenomenal amount of effort
in turning this idea into legislation then getting it sponsored (Mimi Walters
CA – R) and introduced. But
there is a lot more work to be done by working HR pros. We are the people that
are going to be affected by legislation like this, day in and day out.
This is a call to action to go read
the bill. Then if you, and/or your
employer feel like you can support this SHRM needs your help. This bill needs
emails, letters, calls, visits to district office, Capitol Hill visits to our
legislators where we must tell them how this bill will help our organizations
and that you request their support for HR 4219.
Please contact your State Council Legislative Chairs and
tell them that you support this measure and you want to help them turn this
“HR” into law.
If you want more on this I suggest you read another
blog post on the matter written by my friend Sharly Lauby at her blogsite
The HR Bartender.
-Dave Ryan ISC State Director
